Counting the Stars
by Kaira-chan
Summary: [Title may change, don't know yet][Request fic for Red Roses2chan][YugiXSerenity] After highschool, Joey is tired about how everyone has changed except him. Hoping to get them over their sadness, he sets up his sister and best friend.
1. Counting the Stars

This is a request fic for Red-Roses 2-chan ^-^;; that she earned through To The Point of Exhaustion. 

I hope she enjoys it. 

YugiXSerenity. 

YugiTéa

Hinted TristianSerenity

Hinted DukeSerenity

  


I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

  


BTW, sorry if this turns out a little angsty. I've had a bad day, and I'm listening to a really depressing song my friend wrote today. 

EBTW, this is my first story using dub names, so if I slip at all, can someone tell me?

EEBTW, I need to study for my Wellness exam that's next week, so I might be using bone and muscle terms for the body parts. For definitions, refer to the end of the chapter. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Yugi stared out over the large ocean, watching the sun reflect off of the metallic scales of the fish that swam in the perfectly clear ocean water. He sighed, and rested his head on his arms, which were resting on the steel rail that he was leaning on. 

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he wondered how far exactly was America. How far, exactly, was New York. How far, exactly, was 'St. Catherine's School of Dance.'

The sun was already setting when he heard someone walk up behind him, and then felt their presence lean beside him. 

He turned to see Joey leaning against the railing, but, unlike Yugi, his back was facing the ocean.

"You know, you really should go home," Joey sighed, looking at Yugi with a grim, yet concerned expression on his face. 

Yugi nodded. "I know I should. But I don't want to. I can't," he said, turning away from the other man and looking at the ocean. 

Joey looked at him for a moment, before turning around and mirroring Yugi's position on the rail. "Yugi, she's gone. You really should get over her," Joey said, following Yugi's gaze to the horizon, where the sky met the ocean. 

Yugi sighed, and placed his cranium[1] on his brachioradius[2], and stared at the cement which lay under his metatarsals[3].

"I know that Joey. But – if only I had been more..." he bit his lip. "Maybe if I had told her how I feel, she wouldn't have left."

Joey wrapped an arm around Yugi, and pulled him close, hugging him gently. "You know, she's been dreaming of this since she was a child. She might have stayed here if you had said anything, but she would've been miserable, knowing that she could've gone to New York to follow her dream."

Yugi nodded. "I know that, it's just..." he sighed, and focused back on the horizon. "I must seem so selfish right now, right?"

Joey laughed slightly. "Not at all Yug'."

He let his friend go, and Yugi took one last look at the ocean, before turning his back to it and walking away. 

Joey walked up beside him, trailing at his heel. 

"Are you okay?" He said, lacing his fingers behind his head. Yugi nodded. 

Joey chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, before stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Hey, Yug'. Why don't you spend the night tonight?" he proposed. 

Yugi smiled, and nodded. "That would be nice," he answered. "I just need to go home and get some of my things, okay?"

Joey nodded, and Yugi ran off towards the subway. 

Joey walked home himself, smiling softly, hoping to get Yugi's mind off of Téa. They could stay up all night, eat pizza and junk food and watch some of the 'entertaining' video's he had owned since highschool.

When he walked into the house the phone rang. He blinked, and looked at the phone that was on the other side of his apartment. It rang again. 

"DON'T HANG UP!" He cried out, and rushed to the other side of the room. He dived at the phone, knocking it off of the cradle, and fumbled with it, before lifting it to his ear. "Hello?" he asked tentatively. 

"Hello, Joey?" a young girls voice asked over the phone. 

"Serenity?" he asked, and sat on the ground so her was more comfortable. 

"Yeah. Is it okay if I come over tonight?" Serenity asked quietly. 

"Tonight? I don't know. I have a friend coming over tonight. Why?" he answered. 

She hesitated for a moment. "Mom and I got into a fight tonight, and I don't really want to be here," she replied, her voice dropping again. 

"I'm not su –" He stopped when he heard their mother screaming about something-or-another in the background. He bit his lip. 

What was the harm in letting her come over. Yugi wasn't Duke or Tristan, he could trust both of them staying over. 

"Okay, I'll come pick you up from the subway," he answered. 

"Thank you, big brother," Serenity said, and he could hear the relief in her voice. 

Quickly, he scrawled down a note, grabbed a piece of tape, and ran outside, tacking the note onto the outside door of the apartment. 

  
  


Watching the perfectly clear black sky, he walked towards the subway. He knew his sister wouldn't get there for a while, but all the same, he wanted to be there when she was.

When he got to the station, he found it nearly completely empty, with the exception of a man, huddled against one of the glass shelters.

He lay on his back on a bench, that was out of one of the glass shelters. He loved the night. That was when Tristan and him had always gone out to hang out or party or whatever they felt like doing. No rules for either of them. That was before they had met Yugi – before he had changed their lives. 

Even before that, he loved the night. Once a year, his family would visit the beach, rent out one of the beach houses, and stay there for a week. 

Serenity and he would always go out, nearly every night, and count the stars. They would always loose there count around 200, and would have to start over. 

And soon, that's exactly what he found himself doing. 

"One... two... three..."

He remembered their days in highschool. Téa, Tristan, Yugi and himself. They were so close. They got into so much trouble, always saving the world or something. 

It never really seemed like that's what they were doing though. They always lived in the moment, and it only seemed as big as it was when it was all said and done. 

"Four...five...six..."

But, now Téa had gone off to New York to follow her dream. Tristan was now the owner of some company his sister had given him, and never had time for them. Yugi was always sad about Téa. 

Nothing was the same anymore. 

Well, nearly nothing. It seemed like he was the only one who hadn't changed since those years. 

"Seven...eight...nine..."

Even Kaiba was gone, moving to Tokyo for some big business deal. He didn't really tell anyone what it was about, but one day, when Joey was sure he could beat him, Kaiba didn't come to school. 

He hadn't been there for a week, and that was when their teacher announced the move. He didn't much care, except for the fact that he was down one rival. 

"Ten...eleven....twelve..."

Serenity was going through her teenage angst stage now, and Joey knew he couldn't always be there. 

Yugi was mourning over a love that never was. 

If only they could find someone to consul them. If only... 

"Thirteen...fourteen...fifteen..."

If only they could get together!! He blinked and grinned, only to find that he had lost count. 

~~~~~~~~~~

  


[1]: The top part of the skull. 

[2]: The muscle that bends the arm. It's on the forearm. 

[3]: Foot-bones. 

  


Judging how this chapter went, this fic will be three chapters long, but, I can't be sure ^_^;;

  


I hope you liked ^___^


	2. Pizza

Here's the second chapter. I hope you all enjoy. I'm not necessarily happy with this fic XP. And I have no idea where I'm going with it. I better figure that out soon, because I do plan to finish this by next week ^_^;;....

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. 

Exams are over, so I won't be using technical body terms anymore. 

This is my first and only fic in which I have used dub names, so if I end up slipping at all, I hope that someone will catch it and tell me about it ^_^. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


When Yugi had gotten to Joey's apartments, he rang the door and waited. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he had noticed the messily written note hanging on the door. 

  


_Hey Yug',_

_ Something came up. I should be home soon, but until then just let yourself in and make yourself comfortable. _

_Later,_

_ Joey._

  


Yugi sighed, and went back to his car. He unlocked the passenger door, and opened his glove compartment, searching around, until he found the set of keys he was looking for.

He and Joey had exchanged keys along time ago. Way back when Joey had first moved out. He used to have Téa's keys before. . . before. . . . He sighed, and leaned back, closing his eyes for a brief moment. 

Téa, Joey, Tristan and him had been such great friends. All of them had keys to each other's houses. 

That was before Tristan moved into a bigger house, and distanced himself from the other three. He wouldn't let them have his keys then. Something about keeping the 'company secrets' well... secret. 

Back then, Joey had joked about how he had sounded just like Kaiba when he said that. They all thought that soon he'd become his usual self. 

Then again, whenever he set his mind to a job, he always took it to the extremes. It was like that when he was class cleaner before. 

Then Téa had left them, to follow her dream. He still had her key, Tristan's also. He got out of his car, sighing when the four keys clanked together. Four keys. Four friends. Only two still worked, just like there were only two friends who were still together. 

He inserted Joey's key in the slot, twisted it, and opened the door, then made his way to Joey's apartment. 

He twisted the handle, only to find that the door was locked. Of course. Joey didn't exactly live in the best area of Domino, and the only other people who lived in these apartments were the people who couldn't afford to live any where else.

He grabbed a different key on the ring, and unlocked Joey's suit, before walking in, kicking off his shoes, and making his way to the living room. 

He grabbed the remote, and flung himself on Joey's couch, flipping through the whole three channels Joey received. 

He kept this up for a good half an hour, when he finally got bored of it. He sat up, stretched and headed towards the kitchen, when he heard Joey's door open. 

"Hey Yug'?" Joey called into the room. "You here?"

"Yeah!" Yugi answered from the kitchen. "I'm in here. Where were you?" He stepped out of the kitchen, and his eyes widened when he found that Serenity was standing right beside Joey. 

"I hope you don't mind, Yug'," Joey grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Serenity's going to be spending the night as well."

He looked from Yugi to Serenity, then lead Serenity over to the couch, and made her sit down. Then he made Yugi sit beside her. 

"I'm gonna go pick up some pizza for supper tonight, 'kay?" he said, grinning. 

"Why don't you just order in?" Serenity asked, but Joey seemed to not hear her. 

"You two get to know each other, bye," he said, smiling widely. 

"Joey! We already know each other!" Yugi exclaimed, but Joey was already out the door.

Yugi sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, and Serenity just smiled softly. "I'm sorry about him, Yugi. He gets ... weird sometimes," she tried to explain. 

"I know it," Yugi smiled softly, putting his elbow on the arm of the couch, and resting his chin in his palm.

She looked up at Joey's grimy ceiling, and sighed, making Yugi look over at her. "Why are you here, anyway?" Yugi asked quietly. 

Serenity smiled slightly, but, Yugi noticed, it look a little forced. "My mother and I got into a fight. I asked Joey if I could stay here for the night, until my mother cooled down some, and he agreed. So, here I am," she answered, her smile growing a little. 

Yugi bit his lip. "What were you and your mother fighting about?" he asked, and then saw her face. "I mean, if you don't mind me asking at all."

Serenity shook her head. "No, I don't mind," she said. "I got a D on my report card. She wasn't to happy about that, and we got into a fight."

Yugi sighed, then pursed his lips. He hardly had ever seen his mother, let alone be scolded by her, and Grandpa scarcely cared for his grades, and now he had no idea what to say. 

An awkward silence followed, before Serenity smiled once again. "He, wanna play some of Joey's old video games?" She asked, and Yugi nodded. 

It was times like this when he wished that Atemu was still with him, but he knew what he had had before, he would never have again. Not an advisor, or someone to talk to when there was no one else. He didn't have his protector with him any more, but at least in the time that he had had Atemu with him, he had learned to gain respect for himself. 

He smiled. "Sure," he answered, and Serenity ventured into her older brothers room to get the gaming consol, while Yugi got the cords to hook up said gaming consol, and flipped around the VCR so it would be easier to hook them up. 

Soon, the had the system hooked up, had decided on a game, and were talking about every day stuff, while exchanging challenges. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Constructive critisim is more than welcome. 

Please review. 


	3. The Stars Smile

I don't know if Valentines Day Match up is an actual game, but if it is, I don't own it. 

I own Yu-Gi-Oh no more and no less then I did in the past two chapters.

Gack~! Sorry it took so long. Real life came up and attacked me XP. Plus it was really hard to write this story~!

This is the first fic I have ever used dub names in, so if you catch me slipping at all, please inform me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Joey peered through his window as Serenity and Yugi continued playing their games. 

Serenity hadn't been sure she liked Joey living on the bottom floor of the apartments. The window were ground level and opened into a parking lot, so it would be extremely easy for someone to look through the window, or break in. 

It was now that he was noticing just how easy it was. Though, this time, it was in his favor. 

Eventually, after realizing that nothing was going to happen (neither of them looked too sad anymore though... that was a start), he went to go get the pizza. 

"Do you wanna play another game?" Serenity asked, leafing through Joey's old games. 

"What kind of games are there?" Yugi asked, peering over her shoulder. 

As Serenity continued leafing through the games, she pause, and smiled slightly. 

"What's that?" Yugi asked when he saw her soft smile, and the game she had in her hands. 

"_Valentines Day Match Up,_" Serenity said. "Joey bought it for me for my seventh birthday. I remember when I got it in the mail, I was so happy. Mom didn't like it though, so she sent it back..."

Yugi smiled slightly. "Do you want to play it then?"

Serenity's face lit up at the proposal, and she whole-heartedly agreed. The two of them sat down and began playing.

When Joey got home, both of them were still playing the game. He announced that dinner was reading, and flopped down on the couch that was behind them, placing the pizza on the coffee table that was just in front of him.

"I'm starved!" Yugi announced, pausing the game to turn around and eat. Serenity nodded and crawled up beside him.

"I got two pizza's," Joey began, but was soon interrupt by Yugi. 

"You didn't get anything for us?" he asked with a grin. Beside him, Serenity giggled, and Joey glared at him. 

"As I was saying," Joey said, throwing Yugi a glare. "I got two pizza's. You guys have the same taste in pizza you know." Joey grinned, opening the boxes, to reveal a cheese pizza and a pepperoni. 

Yugi and Serenity both reached for the same piece of cheese pizza, only to have their hands touch. They smiled sheepishly, pulling their hands away quickly. Joey grinned widely, and reached for a piece of the pepperoni pizza, which he had claimed as his own. 

Leaning over discreetly, his radio came on. Yugi and Serenity looked at it, and in that moment, he hid the remote in his couch.

"Hey. It's that waltz music," Joey pointed out. "You know, my dance teacher is starting to teach us how to dance to this stuff, but I can't do it for the life of me."

"You take dance, big brother?" Serenity exclaimed, staring at him in wonder. 

"I didn't know that. . ." Yugi said slowly.

"Yeah. Started last week. . ." Joey said, after a quick glance at his calendar, which was, actually, blank. 

"Okay then! Come on Joey!" Serenity grinned, grabbing his hands and pulling him off of the couch. 

Joey resisted quickly, sitting back down, shaking his head. "No. I learn better when I watch. Maybe you and Yugi can show me how to?" He asked, smiling. He knew Yugi knew how to dance. Téa had taught him. Before he and his father had moved, his mother was big on dancing, and he could only assume that Serenity knew how to dance as well. 

"Shall we, Yugi?" Serenity asked, smiling. 

Yugi shot a quick (suspicious) look at Joey, before nodding his head and agreeing. He pulled Serenity close, placing his right hand just under her left shoulder blade, and held out his left hand. She placed her right hand in his, and put her left hand on his shoulder. 

He took a step forward with his left foot forward, pleased when her right foot stepped back. 

Joey watched, trying not to smile too much. They already looked happier. Yugi was saying something to him, but he wasn't paying attention. He didn't see why. It's not like he had to learn how to do any of this stuff. 

Eventually he stretched, yawning widely. "Well, I'm going to turn in for the night," he grinned. "You two can duke it out for the spare bed."

Yugi and Serenity watched him go into his room, and close the door behind him. Then looked at each other, blushing when they realized that they were still in their dance position. The pulled away quickly. 

"So, uh... wanna play some more video games?" Yugi asked, eyeing the T.V. 

As an answer, Serenity wrapper her fingers around his wrist, and led him to the window which Joey had used to spy on them not too long before. 

"Look," she said, pointing out of the window. Yugi did and blinked. "How many stars do you see?"

Both of them blushed slightly as their hands brushed against each other and clasped. 

"One. Two. Three..."

~~~~~~~~~

Once again, I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I hope you enjoyed it Red Roses-chan. ^^ 

Please Read and Review. Flames will be mocked. Con Crit is more than welcome. 

~~~~Review Replies~~~

Red-Roses2-chan: 

I hope this wasn't angsty ^__^

Daw ning ze:

I could try. I won't be able to start for a while though. 

Misura:

Thank you~! ^__^


End file.
